Hurricane Sandy: 33 killed, thousands of travellers stranded

New York loses power - Monday 29 October. Getty

Sandy, now a post-tropical storm, has caused widespread devastation, including unprecedented flooding and power cuts to the US East Coast and New York City.

A 13-foot wall of water has hit the coast, and at least 33 people have been killed in the US and Canada, including 15 deaths in New York State.

President Obama has declared a 'major disaster' in New York City and Long Island.

In a press conference New Jersey governor Chris Christie said the level of devastation is 'unthinkable'. 'This is beyond anything I ever thought I would see,' he added.

The superstorm hit Manhattan at 6.30pm local time on Monday, leading to the city shutting its mass transit system, schools, the stock exchange and Broadway. Hundreds of New Yorkers were forced to leave their homes.

There was severe flooding to subways and road tunnels after a 13-foot wall of water caused by the storm surge and high tides hit the city. Water poured into the Ground Zero building works and cars were swept down the streets.

Millions of people across the US East Coast have been left without power and last night Manhattan was left deserted and dark when the city's utility company cut power to 250,000 customers as water flooded the island from three sides and reaching rail yards, subway tracks, roads and tunnels.

At least 7.4 million are now believed to be without power and nearly 2 million of these are in New York.

While announcing the re-opening of the Eastside bridges on Tuesday morning (local time), New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said: 'The two biggest challenges facing our city going forward are getting the mass transit system up and running and restoring power.'

The Brooklyn-Battery tunnel, which connects lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, is completely flooded and Central Park has been closed for a clean-up.

A fallen tree on a home in Garden City, New York - Monday 29 October. PA

According to the Daily Telegraph, Atlantic City, the Las Vegas of the US East Coast, was under water on Monday as emergency services fought floods in the city. A combination of high tides and a full moon saw strong storm surges break over protected sea walls and sweep through the streets.

On Sunday 40,000 residents evacuated their homes after their Governor Chris Christie warned them not to be 'plain stupid'.

Tourists also had to leave Atlantic City as hotels, casinos, restaurants and bars closed to prepare for the storm.

In New York, two children were killed by a falling tree. Jack Baumler, 11, and Michael Robson, 13, were crushed as they played outside their home in Westchester County, New York State, at 6.45pm on Monday.

A woman was electrocuted to death by falling wires on Manhattan's 134th street and a 29-year-old man was killed in a car crash in Queens.

Police in Toronto, Canada said a woman died when high winds caused a sign to fall.

More deaths were reported in New Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

Cancelled flights at Heathrow Airport - Monday 29 October. PA

After a round of flights to America were cancelled on Monday, thousands of Britons face another day of travel chaos as BA and Virgin Atlantic cancel more flights today.

BA has decided to operate all flights to Boston as normal with the first scheduled to leave Heathrow at 11.20am. On its website, Virgin Atlantic said: 'ALL our flights to and from New York JFK and Newark airports on Tuesday 30 October and some early departures from New York JFK and Newark on Wednesday 31 October are now cancelled.'

Metro reports that 7,500 flights to the US were cancelled yesterday and nearly all of these were related to the storm.

ABCNews reports that all four New York City airports remain closed.

According to Metro, Sandy has been stripped of its hurricane status due to its shape and internal temperature. However it is still carrying hurricane-force winds.

Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg said the worst of the rain had passed and the passing of the high tide should see the flooding subside.

See the affected areas on Google crisis map.

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